Association of Computed Tomography Findings with Severity of Chronic Kidney Disease

Abstract

Objective: To assess the diagnostic performance of CT-derived renal cortical thickness and CT density values for predicting the severity of chronic kidney disease (CKD) and to explore their potential usefulness in early detection and disease staging.
Materials and Methods: This cross-sectional study included 100 CKD patients of varying stages who underwent CT scans using a 64-slice CT scanner at the radiology department of our institute from June 2023 to August 2024. CT scanning was performed in cortical, nephrogenic, and secretory phases. Morphological parameters including kidney length, width, volume, cortical thickness, and cortical density were assessed and correlated with CKD stages. Kruskal-Wallis test was used to examine statistical differences among stages. A p value of < 0.05 was considered statistically significant.
Results: Among 100 patients (54 males, 46 females), mean age was 45.9 ± 11.0 years, and mean BMI was 22.74 ± 2.58 kg/m². Differences in kidney length, width, and volume were significant among CKD stages (P < 0.001). Statistically significant differences were not seen in cortical thickness (P = 0.3351). CT cortical phase density was significantly related to the severity of kidney disease (r = 0.835, P < 0.001).
Conclusion: CT imaging parameters cortical phase density, as well as kidney volume, correlate strongly with the severity of CKD. This suggests that CT can be used for prediction as well as CKD staging.